The saga over Jordan Chiles’s Olympic bronze medal shows no sign of letting up. It all started on Aug 5 when Chiles’s coach Cecile Landi appealed for her difficulty score to be reviewed which the panel accepted and later awarded an extra 0.1 points to bump her from fifth, surpassing the two Romanian gymnasts, to a bronze medal position on the floor event. Romania’s gymnastics team challenged the new decision stating that the U.S. Team’s appeal was deemed late by a mere four seconds of the accepted 1-minute limit. The Court of Arbitration for Sport panel, chaired by Dr. Hamid G. Gharavi, sided with Ana Barbosu’s plea, depriving Chiles of her only individual Olympic medal just five days later. USA Gymnastics wasn’t one to stay quiet.

Team Romania’s challenge to Jordan Chiles’ score came down to a race against the clock—literally. USA Gymnastics’ appeal, backed by time-stamped evidence claiming they were on time, got shot down. Apparently, they filed a video that shows Landi filing the inquiry on the incorrect score only 47 seconds after it was initially posted, with a follow-up at 55 seconds. Since Chiles was the last gymnast to perform, her coaches were in a mad dash to meet that deadline. This came on Aug 11, just hours after the CAS ruling was made publicly available.

The CAS ruling found the following discrepancies concerning the time elapsed between the first round of scoring posted and Landi’s appeal, and as it turns out, surprisingly, it was FIG’s incompetence that became the apple of discord between the two parties.

• FIG stated that they were unable “to identify the person who recorded the information.” They went as far as admitting that there wasn’t a proper mechanism in existence as well.
• FIG WAG Technical Committee President Donatella Sacchi admitted that she “was not in a position to verify – and did not verify – whether it had been submitted within time.”
• When asked whether it was the OMEGA electronic system, Sacchi’s superior, or any other person who recorded the time, “both FIG and Sacchi were unable to provide any answers.”

To add an extra layer of intrigue, FIG President Morinari Watanabe has pointed the finger at technology for this monumental blunder! Submitting his detailed report on the matter, Watanabe broke down the importance of using proper technology to determine the outcome of the game. He stated,

“The use of technology in sport is now taken for granted and the FIG used to be at the forefront of introducing technology in all International Federations.” Watanabe then went on to self-analyze the flaws within their system and indirectly accused the ones in charge of complacency. The FIG President continued,

“But now we are no longer a pioneer. This is because we are not able to break our prejudices because of our traditions. We need change. We need challenges. And we need the courage to move forward. It was the lack of courage to take that step forward that led to the tragedy in Paris.” 

But just when things couldn’t get more tangled, a new twist emerged.

Dr. Hamid G. Gharavi, who has represented Romanian interests in the past, sparks a controversy

The head of the three-member panel that ousted Chiles from her only individual Olympic medal was Dr. Hamid G. Gharavi. According to the New York Times, Gharavi has represented the Romanian side in arbitration cases in the past for a good span of almost a decade now. He is currently serving as legal counsel to Romania in disputes at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in France.

When questioned about conflicts of interest, “I am not allowed to comment on these or any other matters in relation to my role as an arbitrator in this or any other case,” the France-based attorney told ABC News in a statement. In fact, he suggested such inquiries be re-directed to CAS. CAS did respond to an email saying that none of the involved parties in the case expressed any objection to him being appointed as the panel’s chair. Moreover, CAS rules state that the arbitrators are required to complete conflict of interest declarations before every hearing; adding intrigue over CAS’s rules’ consistency.

Regardless, the question remains: why did the new evidence not come in Chiles’s favor? However, the Swiss Court’s rules suggest that it would only consider cases of process/protocol breaches, jurisdictional issues, or CAS decision’s legality. But, the threshold used to overturn in such circumstances is usually very high. It will be interesting to see whether the US Team’s counsels bring in a ‘conflict of interest’ argument against Dr. Gharavi at the Swiss Court, or is it going to be around CAS’s procedural issues.

USA Gymnastics later shared, “We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan.”

Considering these latest twists and FIG President Morinari Watanabe’s surprising words, what are your thoughts on how this saga has unfolded? Do you think justice has been served, or is there more to the story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!